Athletics visual aid device

ABSTRACT

A visual aid device is disclosed. The visual aid device providing horizontal tunnel vision may be worn by athletes to block out peripheral visual distractions. The visual aid device may include upper and lower opaque regions disposed to block out peripheral vision along horizontal planes above and below the user&#39;s eyes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to sports training aids, and more particularly, to a visual aid device.

In some sports, an athlete's performance is dependent partially on focus and the ability to concentrate on the action being performed. The better one can maintain focus on a particular action or movement, the higher the likelihood, the athlete will succeed at it. Indeed, some athlete's and coaches preach being able to mentally block out everything but the goal at hand.

For example, a baseball or softball player may spend countless hours swinging a round bat trying to hit a moving round ball hurled speeding at them; what some consider the most difficult feat in sports.

One of the obstacles that inhibits an athlete's success in an action is the distractions within a surrounding environment. For example, a common distraction in sports is a surrounding crowd attending the game or match. A crowd sitting in stands may actively attempt to distract an athlete by waving arms, towels, etc. in an attempt to momentarily catch the athlete's eye and distract him from an impending action (for example, hitting a pitch or shooting a basketball). The crowd or even other players may passively also serve as a distraction engaging in routine movement which is picked up by the athlete's field of view (for example, fans walking about, player's moving into position on a baseball diamond). The athlete's brain may subconsciously register this movement thus, distributing focus or concentration away from the task at hand.

As can be seen, there is a need for device that can block distractions from the peripheral vision of an athlete.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a visual aid device comprises a frame and a lens coupled to the frame. The visual aid device also comprises an opaque upper portion of the lens, an opaque lower portion of the lens, and a transparent region juxtaposed between the opaque upper and lower portions of the lens.

In another aspect of the present invention, a visual aid device comprises a frame configured to mount in front of a user's eyes, one or more upper baffles coupled to the frame disposed to cover an upper peripheral vision along a horizontal plane above the user's eyes, and one or more lower baffles coupled to the frame disposed to cover a lower peripheral vision along a horizontal plane below the user's eyes, wherein a lower edge of the upper baffles and are disposed spaced from an upper edge of the lower baffles to define a tunnel vision field of view therebetween.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a frontal perspective view of a visual aid device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the visual aid device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the visual aid device taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 illustrating a tunnel vision created by the device during use; and

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an exemplary use of the visual aid device as worn by a user.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims. Various inventive features are described below that can each be used independently of one another or in combination with other features.

Broadly, embodiments of the present invention generally provide a visual aid device that can be used by, for example, an athlete (also sometimes referred to as a user in the following disclosure). The visual aid device may provide a user with an aid to increase focus by providing a tunnel vision to the user thus, enhancing a user's focus on a task at hand.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3 an exemplary embodiment of a visual aid device 10 is shown. The visual aid device 10 includes a frame 12, configured to mount in front of a user's eyes, with an opaque upper portion 20 disposed to cover an upper peripheral vision along a horizontal plane above the user's eyes and an opaque lower portion 18 disposed to cover a lower peripheral vision along a horizontal plane below the user's eyes. In one aspect, the upper and lower opaque regions 18 and 20 may block out light peripherally above and below the eyes.

In one exemplary embodiment, the visual aid device may be eyewear, for example, modified glasses. The visual aid device 10 may include one or more lenses 16, a bridge 32 holding the frame 12 onto a user's nose, and one or more temples 30 that may be tensioned to assist in holding the visual aid device 10 onto the user's head. The lenses 16 may be hard plastic or glass lenses. In one exemplary embodiment, the opaque upper portion 20 and the opaque lower portion 18 may be a dark tint integrated into the lens material. In another exemplary embodiment, the opaque upper portion 20 and the opaque lower portion 18 may be darkened hard plastic or soft vinyl covers affixed to either a rear surface 27 or front surface 23 of the lenses 16. In another exemplary embodiment, the frame 12 may not include lenses and the opaque upper portion 20 and the opaque lower portion 18 may be baffles attached to the frame 12.

The opaque upper portion 20 and the opaque lower portion 18 may be disposed spaced from one another. The lens 16 may include a transparent region 22 juxtaposed between the opaque upper portion 20 and the opaque lower portion 18. The transparent region 22 may extend laterally between one side edge of the lens to the opposite side edge. In exemplary embodiments that do not include a lens 16, the transparent region 22 may be open air. The height of the transparent region 22 and the spacing between the opaque upper portion 20 and the opaque lower portion 18, may be approximately the height of the user' eye. For example, the opaque upper portion 20 may include a lower edge 21 positioned proximate to the top of and above the user's eye. The opaque lower portion 18 may include an upper edge 19 that may be positioned proximate to and below the bottom of the user's eye. While the transparent region 22 is shown with substantially parallel lower and upper edges 19 and 21, another exemplary embodiment may include lower and upper edges 19 and 21 that taper in narrowing fashion toward one another toward the outer edges of the lenses 16.

In one aspect, the visual aid device 10 may accommodate varying eye sizes by including a depression 15 along the lower edge 19. The depression 15 may provide an eye mark for proper positioning of the eyes while using the visual aid device 10. The depression 15 may also provide for an unobstructed field of vision just around the user's pupil in what is an otherwise obstructed view.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, an exemplary use of the visual aid device 10 is shown. A baseball player may wear the visual aid device 10 during the act of batting. The opaque upper portion 20 and the opaque lower portion 18 may limit the batter's field of view by blocking out light rays BL that are in horizontal planes above and below the user's eyes. The light rays UL and LL shown may represent boundaries of the horizontal planes above and below the user's eyes. Thus, the transparent region 22 may define a tunnel vision by allowing light rays between and including rays UL and LL under the lower edge 21 and above the upper edge 19 respectively to reach the user's eyes. Additionally, exemplary embodiments including the depression 15 may allow more light rays DL through the transparent region exposed by the depression 15. Thus, distractions that may have otherwise been detectable in the light rays BL are blocked from the user's sight while the user may be allowed to focus on, for example, a pitched ball that is viewable within the visual aid device 10 transparent region 22.

While the foregoing has been described in the context of use by a baseball batter, it will be understood that other athlete's may benefit from the tunnel vision provided by the visual aid device 10. For example, a basketball player may employ the visual aid device 10 during shooting and a golfer may employ the device 10 during a golf swing.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. 

1. A visual aid device, comprising: a frame; a lens coupled to the frame; an opaque upper portion of the lens; an opaque lower portion of the lens; and a transparent region juxtaposed between the opaque upper and lower portions of the lens.
 2. The visual aid device of claim 1, further comprising a depression in the lower opaque portion of the lens.
 3. The visual aid device of claim 2, wherein the depression is disposed proximate in front of a user's pupil when the visual aid device is worn.
 4. The visual aid device of claim 1, further comprising at least one temple configured to fit the visual aid device to a user's head.
 5. A visual aid device, comprising: a frame configured to mount in front of a user's eyes; one or more upper baffles coupled to the frame disposed to cover an upper peripheral vision along a horizontal plane above the user's eyes; and one or more lower baffles coupled to the frame disposed to cover a lower peripheral vision along a horizontal plane below the user's eyes, wherein a lower edge of the upper baffles and are disposed spaced from an upper edge of the lower baffles to define a tunnel vision field of view therebetween.
 6. The visual aid device of claim 5, further comprising a depression formed on the upper edge of the lower baffle.
 7. The visual aid device of claim 5, wherein lower edge of the one or more upper baffles is configured for position above the user's eyes.
 8. The visual aid device of claim 5, wherein the one or more upper and lower baffles are integrated into a pair of lenses.
 9. The visual aid device of claim 5, wherein the one or more upper and lower baffles are affixed to, either in front of or behind, one or more lenses mounted on the frame.
 10. The visual aid device of claim 9, wherein the baffles are plastic covers affixed to the lenses. 